Judge throws out evidence in drug case, blasts police

OTTAWA — Bricks of cocaine and four handguns were tossed out as evidence against four men accused of running a massive drug ring after a judge blasted two detectives for searching a suburban Ottawa house illegally because they found a door unlocked.

The behaviour of the officers — detectives Kevin Jacobs and Doug Edgar — would “shock the conscience of the community,” Ontario Superior Court Justice Julianne Parfett found in a written ruling released last week.

“I find the public would be horrified to learn that there are police officers who believe that they can enter homes to look for criminal activity for no better reason than they have forgotten to lock a door,” Judge Parfett said.

“A private residence is sacrosanct. It is trite law that ‘a man’s home is his castle’ and that residents are free from state interference when they are in their homes.”

The two detectives found 12 kilograms of cocaine, four handguns and ammunition and $900 in cash during the June 17, 2006, search of the Kanata residence of the brother-in-law of Cory Farrell, one of the men charged in connection with the drug ring.

The officers were at the home to serve a summons under the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act after Constable Jacobs had stopped Mr. Farrell a day earlier for driving while suspended and without proof of insurance.

Const. Jacobs said he saw through window blinds that the house appeared vacant, but the back door was unlocked. A neighbour had told him the resident had moved out two weeks earlier, and Const. Jacobs said he was concerned about the house being unsecured.

Const. Jacobs testified he and Constable Edgar decided to check for evidence of a break-and-enter or squatters. They found neither. Instead, Judge Parfett said Const. Jacobs found what he was looking for — a motherlode of drugs consisting of two bricks of cocaine on the floor of a closet, wrappings from other bricks of cocaine in a large box in the hallway and more cocaine and handguns in two bags on a closet shelf.

Judge Parfett said the officers’ legitimate purpose for being at the house ended once they determined Mr. Farrell’s brother-in-law no longer lived there.

The search amounted to an abuse of process, Judge Parfett said, and excluded the evidence.

The evidence seized was used as part of Project Bulldawg, a 16-month undercover operation targeting a drug distribution network that police said had ties with the Hells Angels and the Montreal Mafia.

Giuseppe Battista, Duane Hurdis, James Kongkhaw and Farrell have pleaded not guilty to 35 charges, including conspiracy to traffic drugs, association with a criminal organization, weapons offences, drug trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime.

Judge Parfett recognized her decision would likely lead to the dismissal of some charges against the men, although defence lawyers have conceded convictions will likely be registered against their clients on at least some of the remaining charges.

Mr. Battista, the alleged ringleader, has had charges of conspiracy to commit murder dismissed following a preliminary hearing. He and another man, Joey Peloso, were found guilty of conspiracy to launder the proceeds of crime.